COMMENTARY: Where’s The Love’s?

SPRINGDALE OFFICIALS FACE STUMBLING BLOCKS, SUFFER FROM RETAIL ENVY

Thursday, September 20, 2012

— Some people in Springdale just don’t feel the Love’s.

Travel Center that is.

I have been watching, with no small amount of amusement, the situation surrounding the great Love’s sign debate. The national chain wants to locate in Springdale, and they want to put up a big ol’ sign.

At first it was 125 feet tall, but the Love’s folks — being all about love — offered to reduce the size, and the Planning Commission approved an 80-foot sign.

They want to build the travel center near the not-yet-built interchange off Interstate 540 at the Don Tyson Parkway.

In the past, the folks in Springdale would likely have opened their arms in welcome to a gasoline station like Love’s. A new business? You betcha!

But there are couple of stumbling blocks: one involves property owners with names like Tyson, and the other involves retail envy.

You see, the folks in Springdale look northward and see Mecca — I mean the Pinnacle area of Rogers — and they see hope. Hope that they too can be a retail center.

Keep hoping folks. I could be wrong, but, really, is someone going to come in and build a Promenade-like development less than 10 miles down the road from a successful one in Rogers? It doesn’t make economic sense to me.

Don’t get me wrong, I would like to see some nice development in the area of Arvest Ballpark. I want to see the Naturals succeed — even if they are an American League farm club and follow the evil practice of the designated hitter.

Such development would be good for Springdale and the region. I just think expectations need to be a bit more reasonable.

Someone needs to develop that land like the Pinnacle area developed — with a cohesive plan so nothing in the area stands out like a sore thumb — or a 100-foot-tall tall gasoline station sign.

Actually, I think something like a travel center would be a good fit near the ballpark, but, again, it needs to fit in with the area.

There is a proposal being floated to create a “visibility” zone in the future-interchange area. What could be wrong with that? Let me count the ways. It seems some of the Springdale aldermen equate “visibility” with “big.” Big is not always better.

The city has plans to establish an overlay district to better control development, but that effort has been on back burner. Springdale officials appeared to feel there was no rush to develop the district and its requirements until the interchange was closer to becoming a reality. That’s one of the city’s problems: officials have too often been reactive rather than proactive. That must change.

City officials need to join with those of the chamber of commerce and property owners and seek out quality development for the area near the interchange.

And they need to remember that one development will not be the city’s retail savior. They must work toward developing a diverse community that includes quality retail, but also services and manufacturing.

In the mean time, there is Love’s.

We are very welcoming in Rogers. So, Love’s, come on up. Just don’t expect a big old sign. Cabela’s didn’t get one and neither will you.

•••

We are headed toward another football weekend, and, at the moment, things don’t look good for the Razorbacks.

Pretty much everything has been said about the last two games. Tyler Wilson, the team’s leader and quarterback, said the players gave up in the Alabama game. I was royally unimpressed with coaching decisions.

There are a couple of things I know:

w No matter how bad things get, booing gets you no where. There were boo birds in the stands Saturday. I’ve been known to boo a bad call — and goodness knows the Razorbacks get more than their fair share of those — but booing the players, well, that’s just bad form.

w And there is absolutely nothing you can say that will convince me we need Bobby Petrino back. Yes, he was — maybe is — a good coach, but his arrogance apparently knew no bounds. He paid a hefty price, and, now, so are the players and fans.

Here’s hoping we make it through the season with a few victories, and that Jeff Long can find a coach that knows football and can inspire passion — between the goalposts.

Leeanna Walker is local editor of the Rogers Morning News and the Springdale Morning News. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NWALeeanna.